Axwell Proves Who’s King at Electric Zoo 2012

Axwell fed the animals of Electric Zoo a well-rounded set, complete with classics, new tunes, Swedish House Mafia hits, and mashups. Keeping the energy going at the Main Stage after Dada Life’s wild set was a legitimate challenge, but Axwell met it. Furthermore, the Swede maintained the integrity of his musical artistry even at the Main Stage, where the mainstream crowd can have mixed reactions to new music, and expects songs they know.

Axwell fit so many songs into his 1.5 hour set that you couldn’t spend a moment thinking about the time, otherwise you risked missing one of his flawless transitions. The beginning of the set seemed to roll on without dramatic highs or lows. A couple of songs in, he tested the waters with relatively lesser-known tracks – an element of set that is key for diehard fans who rely on DJs to introduce them to new content. After those couple of songs, though, he really picked it up.

Towards the end, Axwell threw in short bursts of tracks with signature sounds – a bit of “One,” the flashy sound of “Insomnia,” a bit of Tommy Trash’s “Ladi Dadi,” and with each new melody, a huge “OOHHHH” from the crowd. To cap it all off, “Save the World” resonated throughout Randall’s Island, first with a pumping boost from “Heart is King,” and then tied together with “Reload” for a perfectly sing-able and dance-able finale. He did a great job delivering a set where each song was greater than the last, while making sure that the crowd knew it wasn’t just a member of the Swedish House Mafia playing – it was Axwell.